English : Notes for teachers and parents
Types of test
English paper 1 (grammar, punctuation and spelling) and English paper 2(spelling) are available in versions that can be completed online and marked automatically. In addition the English paper 3 (reading) papers have been adapted so they can be downloaded and completed on-screen using Adobe Reader.
Here’s more information about the differences between the paper-based tests and our online versions.
There are two versions of papers 1 and 2 – with or without hints.
Papers with hints
Papers with hints are marked question by question, so the student can review their progress as they go. The hints are there to help them revise and recall what they need to know to tackle each question. There is no time limit.
Papers without hints
The papers without hints are the closest to the real tests, as just like the real tests they are timed and marked on completion, with no help available.
Workouts
Also available are short timed Workouts; choose between 1-minute, 5-minute and 10-minute durations. These tests are marked as you go and also have hints. Workouts are comprised of questions picked at random from English paper 1 tests. Each time the test is run, a new set of questions is chosen, making them suitable for repeated use.
Title page
All tests have a title page where students can enter their details, similar to the real written tests.
This information is not stored, but it is shown on the summary of results page and can be printed.
The Workout tests only ask for the student’s name. Students also have the option to enter a fictional ‘Workout name’ which is only there to add a bit of fun.
Their workout name along with their real name are shown on the results page.
Hints
All English papers 1 and 2 come in two versions – with hints and without hints.
The versions with hints are untimed.
The Hint button is available to give students a helping hand.
The hints appear in a light-blue window. The window disappears when you click the Hint button a second time.
Marking
English papers 1 (Grammar, punctuation and spelling) and 2 (Spelling) are marked automatically.
The answer highlighted in green is the correct answer.
Here, the student has answered incorrectly. Their answer is highlighted in red.
The answer given is marked as correct or incorrect. Here, the answer is incorrect.
Here, the student has answered correctly. The answer highlighted in green is their correct answer.
Written answers
Here, the student has answered incorrectly. The answer highlighted in red is their incorrect answer.
The answers highlighted in green and shown in brackets are the correct answers.
There is more than one acceptable answer to this question. All acceptable answers are listed.
Results summary
At the end of every test, the student is shown a summary of their marks.
Time taken to complete the test is also shown.
They will see their actual mark and their mark as a percentage of marks available.
They will also see how they scored in the various categories of question.
If they completed the form on the first page of the test, this information will be shown beneath the summary of marks.
The summary of results can be printed. If your browser supports printing to PDF (most do), then you can choose to create a PDF of the results summary. This is ideal for emailing and saves paper. Click the ‘Print this page’ button and look for an option to print to PDF.
Questions review
At the end of every test (except workouts), the student can review the questions and their answers.
To do this, they should click the ‘View questions’ button. The questions and answers will be shown below the summary.
The questions review can be printed. If your browser supports printing to PDF (most do), then you can choose to create a PDF of the test results. This is ideal for emailing and saves paper. Click the ‘Print this page’ button and look for an option to print to PDF.
Test results and answers given are not stored, so unless you print or save to PDF you will have no record of the student’s work.
English reading papers
English reading papers are not marked automatically but they can be completed on-screen.
They should be downloaded from this website, then saved and opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free program).
The completed document can then be saved and printed.
Papers downloaded from the DfE standards & testing agency website are not suitable for on-screen completion. So you’ll need to download from this website.
